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Monday, December 24. 2007

I spent last week obsessing over year-end lists instead of
getting Jazz CG finished by Xmas, a goal I had set back around
December 1. It's been an interesting week, and I'll write more
about it later, but for now I'm busy cooking for tonight and
tomorrow, so this is about all I can get together right now.

Meanwhile, for a survey of how the year-end polls are likely
to shape up, look at my
cribsheet.

Dave Allen: Real and Imagined (2007, Fresh Sound
New Talent): Guitarist, born in Philadelphia, attended Manhattan
School of Music in 1988, presumably still based in New York. AMG
lists 29 Dave or David (or more famously, in bold type, Daevid)
Allens, none of which appear to be him. But he does have a 2005
album, so this is probably his second. It's a quartet with Seamus
Blake on tenor sax, Drew Gress on bass, and Mark Ferber on drums.
Wrote all the pieces. Has a metallic tone and adept rhythmic sense
that fills in well behind and beside the sax. First rate rhythm
section.
B+(*)

John Chin: Blackout Conception (2005 [2007],
Fresh Sound New Talent): Pianist. Born 1976 in South Korea, grew
up in Los Angeles, went to Cal State when he was 14, got interested
in jazz piano, graduated at 19, headed on to Rutgers, where he
studied under Kenny Barron. First album. Starts as a quartet
where the first thing you notice is the tenor sax: Mark Turner.
He plays on the first two cuts, the fourth and sixth. The other
three drop back to a trio and let the pianist stretch out. He
sneaks up on you.
[B+(***)]

Robert Wyatt: Comicopera (2007, Domino): He
has straddled the jazz and rock worlds for 35+ years, remaining
so unique in both that nobody knows where he fits. His barely
controlled high-pitched voice is unprecedented and unlikely to
be followed, yet he has produced such compelling vocal albums
as The Hapless Child (under Michael Mantler's name). He
has a few more scattered masterpieces, but also quite a lot
that is barely (if at all) listenable. Few artists take more
risks. None that I know of put less ego on the line. I was a
fan early on, but couldn't handle many of his recent, even
highly touted, records (e.g., Shleep). This seemed like
another at first, with his vocals fitting awkwardly over odd
melodies and fractured rhythms, but the record is sprinkled
with wondrous instrumental bits -- Gilad Atzmon sax, a piece
with vibes and electronics, Eno keybs, something Latin, bits
of cornet. Several plays later it's filling out.
[B+(***)]

Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Shamokin!!!
(2006 [2007], Hot Cup): Quartet led by bassist Moppa Elliott,
originally from Scranton PA, now in New York. Elliott wrote all
of the pieces except "A Night in Tunisia," the closer they hack
up into extended solos -- blurb calls it a "twenty-one minute
jazz orgy [including] references to the majority of recorded
sound of the last century." Most of the noise comes from the
two horns: Peter Evans on trumpet, Jon Irabagon on alto sax.
This strikes me as "free bop" -- more tethered to the jazz
tradition than similarly configured avant groups, but unruly,
eager to break loose, clash, get down and dirty. Might have
cracked my Top Ten list had I gotten to it earlier.
A-

David Buchbinder: Odessa/Havana (2006-07 [2007],
Tzadik): Canadian trumpeter, previous groups include the Flying
Bulgar Klezmer Band and Shurum Burum Jazz Circus. (AMG also cites
an "Arabic fusion ensemble" called Medina, but it doesn't show up
in his credits or in his website bio.) Here he trades compositions
with Cuban pianist Hilario Durán, who lives in Canada and has
worked with Arturo Sandoval. The band is a mix of klezmer and
Cuban specialists, including Quinsin Nachoff on reeds and flute,
Aleksandr Gajic on violin, Dafnis Prieto on drums, and Roberto
Occhipinti on bass. Actually, more klezmer than Cuban, largely
because the horns and violin drown out the piano and percussion
has trouble keeping up. (Contrast this with Roberto Rodriguez,
who starts with Cuban rhythms and adds klezmer on top, a more
effective strategy.) One slow spot works nicely. Some of the
orchestration is overblown. Nachoff has some strong sax parts.
B+(**) [advance]

The John Brown Quintet Featuring Ray Codrington: Merry
Christmas, Baby (2006-07 [2007], House of Swing): Brown
plays bass, teaches at Duke, also has an Art Blakey tribute album
out (more on that later). Codrington plays trumpet in the quintet,
and gets to sing here. He's hardly special, but brings good cheer
to songs that are nothing but -- God gets dutifully thanked in
the liner notes, but the only song here that might upset devoted
secularists is "Happy Birthday, Jesus," which reminds me more
of Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday" to JFK. Frosty, Santa
Claus, and Rudolph all swing like mad, and it snows all over the
winter wonderland. Not even I dare rain on their parade.
B+(*)

The John Brown Quintet: Terms of Art: A Tribute to Art
Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Vol. 1 (2007, House of
Swing): Bassist, leading a standard hard bop quintet, with Ray
Codrington on trumpet, Brian Miller on saxophones, Gabe Evens
on piano, Adonis Rose on drums. Most of these songs I recognize
from Blakey's group -- none written by Blakey, only some by
group members like Wayne Shorter and Bobby Timmons. I don't
really see the point in doing such straight recreations of
material that effectively consolidated bebop into mainstream.
The result is less notable than Brown's Xmas record, but I
wouldn't feel right to grade it lower.
B+(*)

Roger Mas 5tet: Mason (2006 [2007], Fresh Sound
New Talent): Spanish (or, more precisely, Catallan) pianist,
although his favored instrument here is Fender Rhodes. Quintet
includes tenor/soprano saxophonist Jon Robles, guitarist Jaume
Llombart, no trumpet, but the group is augmented with "special
guest" Enrique Oliver on tenor sax. Two covers, one from John
Coltrane, the other from Antonio Carlos Jobim. The record has
a slick postbop feel, the saxophones omnipresent, the guitarist
taking more solos than the leader.
B+(*)

And these are final grades/notes on records I put back for further
listening the first time around.

Paul Motian Trio 2000 + Two: Live at the Village Vanguard,
Vol. 1 (2006 [2007], Winter & Winter): The Trio has
Chris Potter on tenor sax and Larry Grenadier on bass. The "+ Two"
are Greg Osby on alto sax and Masabumi Kikuchi on piano. Smells
like a quintet to me, but there is probably some arcane logic in
the division -- e.g., Motian, who made his reputation backing
pianists, for a long time avoided pianists in his own groups,
but this isn't the first time Kikuchi has appeared as an add on.
Motian is a slippery drummer, and he often throws the saxes off
their stride. They deserve credit for keeping their composure
and making something of the tricky terrain.
B+(**)

Alessandro D'Episcopo Trio: Meraviglioso (2005
[2007], Altrisuoni): Fine piano trio, leaning hard on four Monk
pieces, which set the rhythmic frame for a few originals, a trad.
Neapolitan song, and the title track from Domenico Modugno.
B+(**)

Doug Beavers Rovira Jazz Orchestra: Jazz, Baby!
(2006 [2007], Origin): Children's songs, sung by Matt Catingub
and Linda Harmon, punched up with big band arrangements. Can't
say whether your kids will get off on it, but at least you won't
be bored shitless playing this for them. You may even figure
it's good for all concerned.
B+(**)